As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Asia February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. Years later and I’m still here. I went from being some random foreign girl to taking on labels I never imagined – university professor, film extra, professional boxer, reality TV star, CEO of my own girls-only fitness company (Flipside Fitness), CEO of my own boxing club (Hulk's Club, formerly known as Hulk's Boxing), and now I'm launching my 3rd business -- Empowered Clubhouse.

After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and left. I returned to Toronto, Canada with Flipside Fitness on my brain, Hulk's in my heart, boxing in my bag, and my four-legged friend Balboa Button by my side. But then I left again. This time it was for the Philippines. That's where I'm at now, living in the land of the happy people.

The struggles are real and the struggles are many but I'm living life on my terms, I'm calling the shots, and I'm doing what I love.

Life is an amazing adventure and this is my story of yesterday.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Legally In Trouble... Monday, April 24

Immigration... Longer than expected thanks to someone, I don't know who but someone super special, who accidentally stamped my passport wrong back at the airport, giving me only a 30 day visa instead of the 59 my official visa in my passport reads.

Thanks smarty pants. Note the sarcasm there.

Consequently, I spent 5 hours instead of a simple 30 minutes at Immigration and up until my visit there I didn't really realize how busy the Philippines was until I stepped into that building. Outside of Immigration, there were a couple of food stands with workers busily catering to the growing crowd. Random street cats ducked under their tables there, hustling it for free table scraps and then there were the numerous kids at the front doors, hustling for money -- offering to hold an umbrella for you or catch you a taxi. Inside Immigration, there were clusters of workers hovering over counters, standing behind counters and walking to and fro.

And then, of course, there were those there for business with Immigration, like me.

I needed to get my visa extended and apparently I also needed my passport corrected. Great.

I got into an interesting conversation with a man on the second floor, while waiting for my passport. He asked me if I was "the Amy" advertised on the back of my sweater. Yes, I was. The sweater I was wearing was my Dead Aim Amy sweater. In between taking it off and putting it back on, one of the Immigration officers behind the counter asked me if I was into weight training. I motioned that I was a boxer by throwing up my fists and giving a quick one, two. He smiled back and gave me props for that.

Despite the long waiting hours at Immigration, I thought things were going good. I was having an enjoyable time. I was a bit freaked out by some of the more "interesting Western men" present but had shared a lot of good chats and giggles.

And then I got in trouble.

Did you know you're not allowed to wear a tank top in government buildings here?! Ya, neither did I. A female officer came by and motioned for me to put my sweater on. I didn't. And then a little later a second female officer stopped me and told me to put it on. She told me, told me she knew another officer had told me and then she stood and waited as I put it on.

They do know it's the Philippines, right?! Temps are in the mid 30's... Yikes.

Anyways, five hours later and I was finally walking out of Immigration and yes, you best believe the first thing I did was take off my sweater!

I had left my condo at 7am, returned at 3pm, and then I basically dropped my bag, grabbed my gear and headed straight out to boxing.

No sooner had I arrived at boxing but then Coach Garry, Coach Arman and Coach Rocky approached me. I knew something was up. Turns out it was regarding my fight. Last night my opponent backed out of the fight. With just a little over a month away from my fight it has officially been called off.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!

Rumour has it she figured out who I was and that she had met me, which really means nothing beyond the fact that it'd be a solid fight. Some say she found out who I was and was intimidated, saying that they think she's used to fighting "easy fighters". Whatever the case may be, all I care about is the fact that I've been killing myself with training and finally had a goal, a meaning to all this training madness, but now it's gone. And with just a little over a month left till I fly back to Canada, there's no way I'll be able to pick a fight before I go.